Switch-lock.



D. J. DOLAN.

SWITCH LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. I918.

1,281,533 Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

June/whoa J [4725f IaZan WWW DEaVIID J, Dill-.ihl'it', (31 'BEWROIT, Milli-EGAN, ASSIG'N 01% 'TLO T .hllLIZiEGAN, MICLE LIGAN.

Application filed March '2, 1918.

To oZZ whom it may cocoa m:

Be it known that l DAVID J. Doom, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful ln'iproveinents in twitch-Locks, of which the following is a s )eciiication reference being hatl therein to the accompanying drawings if v This invention relates to switch locks and refers more particularly to e switch lock n'iechanisn'i whereby when the switch is in neutral the circuit is established which will intercept any current that will go through the system and catty it back to the ground.

The agplication is in part a continuation of my earlier tiled application Serial Nurm ber lfithl -ltl, filed. April e, 191?.

in switch locks of: the type applied to au toniobiles (liiiiculty has been encountered in preventing theft by the use of the switch loch owing to the fact that the car could be rendered operative by connecting a lead from the magneto or battery to the coil;box by running a wire from such leao. to one of the high tension leads of the coilbox, the current then passii i downward through the coil to the base-plate of the coil-box and thri'iugh the oriinsry windings oi the other coils to the t the pr out invent on l have overcome this litliculty by the ovision of a member which will close aillziliary circuit to the 'ouiitl Whenever the switch is in neutral, thereby renclefng; inoperative any attempt shoi't circuit around the coils in the manner above describe-cl.

lie inven Vstionel View showlli' f invention, c i

tic View ot the ciris en'ifoloyeth the gel scribing: to which a coihhoi oi Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ch 15,,

Serial No. 220,892.

B and B the individual coils which, at their lower ends. restupon spring contacts (1, C, C and connected to a baseplate D from which a lead Wire D extends to the movable member E of the switch. Each of the coils is provided with ahigh tension lead or connection l3, l E F leading to the sparlcplugs G, G. The current from the magneto J through the low tension coils is controlled by a timer H which successively closes the circuit through the low ten sion coil connections, ll, 1, l and l .ln certain types of automobiles there is also en'iployetl a battery such as L and the same switch when turned in the opposite (ii-- rection connects the coils to the battery,

In the detailed construction of the switch as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and describing first the construction shown in l designates the lead from the magneto and hi the lead from the battery, each of which is connected to its respective spring contacts i and N. O designates the stationary spring contact which is always engagechkby the segmental contact make": C the movement of which is governed by lock niechanisui P, the detailed construction of which 71c? 86 forms no part of the present invention. The arrangement of parts is such that hen the proper key is inserted in the lock l? and turned toward the right it will throw the end of the contact maker G" into engagement with the spring contact N and close the lead to the magneto, thus allowing the car to run in its usual manner, ll, however, the key is turnecl to the left the opposite end of the contact maker G will be engraced with the spring: contact N, thus connecting the battery to the coils,

lzlowever, such locks not entirely theft proof owing to the fact that the unauthoi-- ized use of the coulcl be matle possible by coni'iectino; a wire such as indicated by the zigzag line Q, from the magneto to one of the high tension coil connections member R which, when the switch is in neutral as shown in F ig. 1, will bring the ends R and B into engagement with the spring contacts N and N. Therefore, if anyone attempts to run the car when the switch is locked by using a wire Q, from the magneto the ignition circuit will not operate since the current will simply flow down to the base-plate and then in place of going upward through the coils to the spark-plug, it will be passed through the lead D, plate R, casing S and strap S back to the ground on the car (indicated at K in Fig. 4). If an attempt is made to run the car by taking thebattery and connecting it to the battery side of the coils the current from the battery will simply pass through the contact N, plate R, casing S and strap S back to the ground.

In the construction shown in Fig. 3 the same general result is obtained by an intercepting switch plate T slipped into the key slots T so that it will turn with the contact maker 0'. Thus when this type of switch is turned to neutral position, shown in Fig. 3, the end T of the intercepting switch plate T will engage with the contact 0 which in turn is connected to the bottom plate D. Therefore any attempt to use the car when the switch is in neutral position by employing short circuiting or other wires Q and Q will be prevented since the current flowing through such wires to the coils will be led back through the base-plate, the lead line D and the intercepting plate T, the casing S and strap S to the ground.

The invention, however, is not limited to the two embodiments of my invention shown and described as various other forms of iiiterceptiiig switch plates or like mechanism can be employed without departing from the scope of my invention.

What. I claim as my invention is t- 1. The combination with a lead from a source of electric current, of coils, a switch for controlling the' connection between the coils and the source of current, and a device for rendering the coils inoperative whenever the switch is thrown into neutral position.

2. The combination with a lead from a source of current, of an ignition circuit, a

switch for controlling the connection be.

tween the ignition circuit and the source of current, said switch having an operative and a neutral position, and a member automatically adjusted by movement of the switch to neutral position for grounding the current in case the connection is made from the source of current to the ignition system without getting through the switch.

3. The combination with the ignition circuit of an automobile or the like including the coils, ignition devices electrically connected thereto, a magneto or the like, a switch for connecting the magneto to the coils, said switch having a neutral position wherein the circuit. from the magneto to the coils is broken, and an intercepting device adjusted by the switch to neutral position for grounding the magneto lead whenever an attempt is made to operate the ignition circuit when the switch is in neutral position.

i. The combination with an ignition circuit of an automobile or the like, of a key-.

operated switch for controlling said circuit, said switch having a movable contact member movable to a neutral position, and an intercepting plate automatically adjusted DAVID J. DOLAN. 

